Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,238 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 170 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.8% of Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,228,507,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 633,115,246 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $112,422,274,000 after purchasing an additional 10,951,705 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1,841.6% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 8,755,560 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $78,548,000 after purchasing an additional 8,304,604 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $1,461,735,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Apple by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 29,549,427 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,247,094,000 after buying an additional 8,154,171 shares during the last quarter. 57.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Apple from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $170.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Monday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $157.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Friday, June 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.64.
Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $138.93 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.04 and a 52 week high of $182.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market cap of $2.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.20.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 152.88% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $97.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.11 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 9th were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 6th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.94%.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.
In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.72, for a total value of $4,043,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 452,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,151,454.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.91, for a total value of $1,319,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,475,583.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 168,099 shares of company stock worth $29,376,711. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
About Apple (Get Rating)
Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. It also sells various related services. In addition, the company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; AirPods Max, an over-ear wireless headphone; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, HomePod, and iPod touch.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating).
Receive News & Ratings for Apple Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Apple and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.
